Funny Books to Read Aloud with Your Kids

Get your children reading with a super funny book curated by the review team at Wantate.

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

by Julia Sarcone-Roach

The cover alone is enough to get young readers laughing about this one. Listen, your sandwich is gone — a bear ate it! It was a bear. No doubt about it, 100% a bear. The hilarious story of the bear’s journey to said sandwich is so absorbing; your kids won’t start wondering about a duplicitous narrator until the unexpected, uproarious end.

The Wicked Big Toddlah

by Kevin Hawkes

When one “wicked big toddlah” is born in Maine, life will never be the same for the sleepy seaside town. Think Clifford the Big Red Dog, but with babies. Toddie is a normal baby boy — besides the simple matters that he bathes in the ocean and has teeth the size of Priuses. This book is made for big laughs. Fair warning: avoid beverages (especially milk) while reading.

I Don’t Want to Be a Frog

by Dev Petty, illustrated by Mike Boldt

We all have a minor identity crisis at some point, right? For this young frog, that crisis is happening now, and it is SERIOUS. Why can’t he be a cat? A unicorn? The next Frank Sinatra? (Okay, maybe I’m getting a little carried away.) In an earnest and enlightening conversation with his father, Frog learns a thing or two about self-acceptance while kids enjoy one good comic time.

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How to Get Through Your Day With Humor

Having a tough day? Humor can help! Here’s how humor can help you get through your day, from the very start to the very finish.

Lift the fog with some laughs. Waking up in the morning can be hard to do, especially since many of us sacrifice sleep for the sake of getting things done. But next time you’re rubbing your eyes and having a hard time getting out of bed, consider playing a comedy podcast to start the day with some laughs. It’ll go a long way in engaging your brain and waking you up in the morning!

Crack a joke on your coffee break. Like with many things in life, humor is best when it’s shared with other people. If you’ve got some time the night or morning before you head off to work, look up a great joke, give it a practice run or two, and share it with your co-workers on your coffee break. The laughter will be contagious, and it’ll have everyone feeling just a bit better!

Catch up on the comedy when you come home. When you finally get home after a long day, what better way to unwind than with a couple of chuckles. Get the couch ready and stream the latest comedy special, or curl up with a hilarious book that’s bound to give you the giggles.

Looking for some comedic content? Visit our online library at www.wantate.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more. Accessible anytime, anywhere, from your favorite devices.

The Six Essential Ingredients of Humor

Many have tried to tackle the topic and teach other how to be funny, few have succeeded. Mel Helitzer may just be one of them. In his bestselling book, Comedy Writing Secrets, Helitzer (along with co-author Mark Shatz) outlines his six essential ingredients for all things funny, which he refers to as the “THREES” formula, an acronym which stands for:

1. Target

2. Hostility

3. Realism

4. Exaggeration

5. Emotion

6. Surprise

To summarise:

1. Humor must be specifically targeted, and while our target can be anything or anyone, it’s important to know who our audience is.

2. Humor may contain a certain amount of hostility towards our target. Comedy can be cruel, after all.

3. There’s a bit of truth behind every joke, as many of us have heard through a variety of famous quotes.

4. Exaggeration is often nothing more than expanding on reality, with perhaps the occasional metaphor thrown in for good measure.

5. Emotion can produce tension and anxiety, which serves to build up the anticipation in our audiences.

6. Surprise is one of the primary reasons why people laugh, as Helitzer puts it, and the proper punchline, though unexpected, will produce the perfect reaction.

Armed with the ingredients you’ll be ready to craft some creative comedy and will have audiences laughing hysterically in no time! Helitzer’s book remains in print to this day for those looking to go beyond the basics.

Looking for some hilarious reads? Visit our online library at www.wantate.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more. Accessible anytime, anywhere, from all your favorite devices, and sure to put a smile on your face!